A Work of Art
by lilbeastindraco
Summary: When Will is tortured by nightmares all of them ending in him being the one at the end of a knife how will he find a way to dispel these tormenting thoughts. And how will Will and Hannibal deal with a new serial killer that is rising up as he decorates the town with his beautiful works of art.
1. Chapter 1

Will tried to escape the bed but realized all to well that he wouldn't be able to. The pain came again as the sharp object pierced his skin. Long, slim, perfectly pointed at the end must be a knife Will thought as his scream pierced the dark atmosphere. His attempts at escaping were futile as when he jerked up the knife came down. A hand carefully pressing down on his hips pushed him into the mattress as he brought the knife up and slipping it back into another spot on his abdomen. Will couldn't look down as his eyes were glued to the ceiling Abigail Hobbs was hanging on deer antlers. The contour of her body was dripping in blood it seemed to rain from the ceiling around us.

Finally the last cut was made on my stomach and as the knife was pulled out the pain rushed in. I screamed and clenched my eyes in agony hoping it would subside but it didn't it just came in 10 folds like waves on a shore or a fire burning through a forest. The fire rustled in between my toes and up through my legs, pooling in my hips into the lines cut in my stomach, collection in my lungs and into my throat were it forced it's self out In a strangled cry for help. But who would help the person who dreamed about killing other people.

Nobody

A hand appeared from the darkness grasping for my throat and finally it clutched it and brought the stained knife to it and in the final seconds a chanting in the background

_This is my design_

_This is My design _

_This is MY DESIGN _

The knife swiftly sliced through the arteries in my throat and my blood cut through the air following the knife. It seemed to dance before my eyes as the figures face came closer and in the light from no source came the head of a Buck it's antlers made it tower over me and below it was placed a well tailored suit. The blood seemed to flow around it instead of on it. And his nicely manicured hand pulled on one of the antlers pulling it off its head.

In a batting stance it pulled the antler back and it rushed towards my face as it made contact crushing my skull, my sight darkening and a few of my teeth following the spit releasing from my mouth on impact.

I jolted awake grabbing my hair and gasping for air that didn't seem to seep in fast enough. I dragged my hands over my stomach but felt nothing, no cuts, no blood, and no pain, only the marks of my tainted antique dreams washed through me. I put my hand down on the bed only for it to come in contact with the pool of sweat that had soaked into the sheets. I reached for the phone and dialed Hannibal's number. After a few rings a deep accented voice came over the speaker,

"Good Morning Will."

"I just had a nightmare," I told him skipping straight to the situation at hand

"Meet me in a hour at my office," Hannibal said hanging up

I quickly got out of bed and jumped into the shower scrubbing my body raw. I was unconsciously making the shaped carved into my body in my dream reliving every agonizing second as the knife cut through me like a piece of steak.

Was I only for the finest to carve into? I thought as I faced Hannibal his stare decoding my every pore.

"So what was so different about this dream then the others," Hannibal asked

"Nightmare," I muttered

"Excuse me," he said

"It wasn't a dream it was a nightmare," I told him pushing the hair out of my eyes ", in my dreams I'm always the one seeing the act committed or the remnants of one maybe I even killed them but I've never dreamed of actually being the one . . .Oh God," I whispered into the air as I pulled at my hair trying to extract the memories with the hair fibers.

"Will relax no one is going to hurt you," Hannibal told me placing a hand on my shoulder rubbing it ", you need to loosen up," he told me as he came around and started to rub my shoulders releasing years of built up tension.

I slowly opened my eyes realizing two things 1.) I wasn't in my bed 2.) Hannibal was across from me doing paper work with something delicious sitting in front of him.

"Will your awake," Hannibal said as he gestured to the food in front of him ", here eat up," he told me pushing the plate to the end of his desk

I started to remember lasts nights events as I sat up pulling the object around my shoulders tighter to my torso. I felt the material and it felt just as expensive as it looked: it was one of Hannibal's suit jackets.

"I'm not hungry," I told him answering his earlier statement

"You must eat Will," he told me as he got up grabbing the plate ", it will make you feel better or am I going to have to treat you like a child," he poked some eggs on a fork and held it to my mouth ", Choo Choo."

And finally I laughed. To see this very successful, and serious man in front of me who seemed never to have a hair out of place imitating the sounds of a train you would see on a children's cartoon. As I opened my mouth to suck in air he shoved the eggs inside some of them falling out in my struggle to breathe. Hannibal sat down beside me grinning and placing the plate on my lap.

"Here enjoy as much as your heart desires," he said as I grabbed another fork full shoving it into my mouth. When you live alone you never know if you're ever going to get such an expertly made meal unless you were Hannibal of course.

"Is this for me," I asked as I grabbed an orange juice box off a coaster from the table beside me. Hannibal gave me a nod. "This doesn't seem very you," I told him

"I have clients in the morning also though most do come in the afternoons. But I've found that orange juice boxes have just enough juice to keep people awake, and they are small so they don't overwhelm someone when I offer. Kind of like the effect if you go over to a friends house and you ask for a drink but they have several different kinds. Should I pick Coke, or Dr. Pepper? Though Sprite is my favorite there's only one cold one left so should I ask or just take it. Little things like this worry my clients like they are overstaying there welcome so slowly I have learned to provide for them within the ranges normal people are comfortable with." Hannibal explained

"That was the most in-depth answer I have ever heard for someone owning juice boxes," I told him downing the small container in a matter of seconds

"Yes it does appear so," Hannibal said laughing with me as soon as we quieted down I felt something in my pocket start to vibrate. I quickly took it out and answered the call.

"Will," I heard from the speaker

"Yes"

"Please come down to the park immediately and bring Hannibal your going to want to see this," Mr. Crawford said to me

" What is it," I asked

"It seems someone is turning people into a work of art," Mr. Crawford said and hung up

In the middle of the park stood a woman exactly 6ft tall, long brown hair that was straightened. Her eyes forever shut and her arms gracefully strung above her like a ballerina. Her body covered in an array of flowers, her pale dead skin resembled porcelain. She was stretched into a pose that didn't look her own.

_This is my design_


	2. Chapter 2

Will and Hannibal arrived at the crime scene and as soon as Will got out of the car his eyes scanned every detail embedding them in his brain. This was for future reference so I could get to the conclusion easier but most the time it just formed nightmares when my eyes closed. Near the body there was ruts in the ground.

"It appears that she was moved several times," I stated to Crawford pointing at the marks in the ground

"Except she wasn't," Crawford said ", we've checked out the surveillance cameras that have a clear shot on this park. They snap pictures in 60-second intervals. The person who did this was in and out in that amount of time and never came back." Crawford explained

"Then why are these here," I asked

"We don't actually know the cameras didn't pick up anyone making them but we do know they weren't here yesterday," Crawford said scribbling something down in his notepad

"We should follow them," I said to Hannibal and he gave me a quick nod as we set down the path of ruts.

Slowly more and more _Narcissus's_ were showing up.

"Don't you think it's weird that these are only growing along the path but nowhere else," Will stated kneeling down and touching the flower.

But Hannibal wasn't listening he was digging and uprooted the flower. He pushed on the soil a little bit and it caved in.

"Will . . . ," Hannibal started but I was already to his side and looking into the hole. The hole its self appeared to be a little over a foot and a half long and inside was a girl.

Her right hand was raised to the sky in a fist and she appeared to be the one holding the flowers. She was naked except for the flowers covering her torso into what looked like a blouse. The flowers were sewed into her skin and combined with the dead stench made me more than nauseous as I stepped back from the sight. Hannibal stood up and I quickly ran down the path passing more _Narcissus_ flowers.

Hannibal slid to a stop beside me on the toiled up earth. My frozen figure wouldn't move any further because of the sight before me. Surrounding the area in front of us were dozens of _Narcissus _flowers and a giant Weeping Willow. Strung from the branches of the willow tree were bodies. All the bodies were arranged in provocative images that seemed to resemble those from the Khajuraho Temples. Each person had a halo of _Asphodelus_ and strung across each person was a letter spelling 'Will Gra-' but it cut off not finishing what I knew it was going to spell.

_This is my design_

"This is obviously a message for you Will," Hannibal said putting his hand on my shoulder jolting me from my daze.

"Obviously," I said looking at him ", but we got here before he finished," I said pointing out the apparent evidence in front of us ", call Crawford it seems we're going to have a lot of work to do."

"I already did he said he was on his way," Hannibal said looking at me ", are you going to be okay?"

"For now," I answered but it appears I answered all to soon as I started to walk away from the meadow and stumbled. Hannibal reached out and grabbed me before I could fall and picked me up in his arms.

"We wouldn't want anything to happen to you Will now would we," Hannibal said giving me a toothy grin. But I couldn't answer back as my head fell back and I slowly lost consciousness.

My eyes opened and I realized I was once again in Hannibal's office. His suit jacket strung around me keeping me from getting cold and I looked over to see Hannibal beside me. I carefully shook him awake and he fell over on the armrest of the couch.

"Hannibal," I said shaking a little harder when I smelled an unfamiliar fragrance coming from him. I slowly unbuttoned his shirt and let it hang open to reveal _Datura stramonium_. I got up quickly backing away unconsciously tugging the suit jacket to my body. Hannibal's head lifted up and faced me his eyes masked over with white as he stood. He slowly walked towards me trapping me against one of his sofas. He pushed me onto it straddling me in the process. He grabbed my head with his hands throwing it onto the back of the couch exposing my neck.

I tried to push him away as I whispered his name but nothing stopped him. I felt his lips against my neck and slowly his teeth started biting and gnawing until he broke skin. I gasped as he licked the blood slowly forming in the marks on my neck. His tongue set me on fire as he licked at the freshly made scratches. Slowly he lifted up with some of my blood dripping from his mouth and began to unbutton my shirt. I felt something push in my abdomen, like it was trying to escape. Hannibal ran his fingers over were the impelling force was trying to escape. I gasped as something pierced my skin from the inside out and slowly others came through my skin. The prickly leaves from the plant made the cuts burn and Hannibal didn't help the situation as he brought a knife to the upper part of my chest making a cut down to the plants.

Slowly my blood seeped down into the plants and they started to bloom into _Tagetes_. I lolled my head back closing my eyes trying to escape the pain but when I opened my eyes I wasn't in Hannibal's office anymore and I didn't feel any pain I was numb. I looked down to see Hannibal in the field of _Narcissuses _his black suit easily distinguishable from the yellow flowers. My arms were strung out from my side they were being held by the Willow's branches and my feet barely touching a limb as I was virtually hanging there. My head crowned with a ring of _Gladiolus_ instead of thorns as Hannibal starred up at me.

_This is my design_


	3. Chapter 3

I jolted awake and touched my chest but all I felt was my sweaty skin. There was no _Tagetes_ and no blood. I sighed in relief as I looked around the room I was in. The walls a light gray and held works of art, but one in particular caught my eye; it was the painting _The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun._ The painting by William Blake was beautiful and seemed to draw the room together in a light yet dark atmosphere. I slowly got up and walked to the door hearing the sounds of _A Midsummer Night's Dream Op.21 _coming from the other room. I opened the door and walked out into the hall the walls a navy blue on the left wall was a display case that seemed to go on forever.

Inside the display case was species of Butterflies. It started with some of the most popular species such as the _Danaus plexippus _to some endangered species like the _Lycaeides melissa samuelis_. The case was just as impressive as this house. The walls lined with art from Gustave Doré to Leonardo da Vinci. The hard wood floor made it easy for my socked feet to glide across in my sleepy state to find Hannibal. I followed the music to the left and went down the hall. At the end were double doors that led into a domed shaped green house. I opened them and saw Hannibal watering a group of _Campanulas_.

"It seems you also have a thing for flowers," I said standing there looking at him

"Yes but in a different sense they were outlining a message to us, but mine are simply for beauty," Hannibal said with a smile.

"What happened to me," I asked Hannibal changing the subject.

"You fainted so I brought you back to my place," Hannibal said.

"And the bodies," I asked.

"They uncovered a total of 20 bodies but they said there could be more in the surrounding areas so they were going to check the whole park," Hannibal said going back to watering his flowers.

"How do you care for all these flowers," I asked

"I usually don't but recently the help I had seemed to have got himself in a little predicament," Hannibal said

"And what would that have been," I asked

"He left for a week on vacation without my knowledge and some of my flowers suffered for his mistake so he had to go," Hannibal said with a smirk and a glint in his eye that made me not want to question him further

"So if you had help, then the killer must of also had help. They couldn't have planted all those flowers and bodies in such a short amount of time without the help of someone," I told Hannibal

"It seems you are correct," said Hannibal laying down his water hose ", How about we discuss this over brunch I have had stew on since last night and it should be cooked to perfection by now."

"That sounds terrific," Will said as his stomach growls ", and could I also have some clothes," gesturing towards my naked chest

"I placed a set of clothes at the end of your bed. They must have fallen off while you were asleep please go look again while I dish out the soup for us," Hannibal said walking me back inside.

I walked down the hall again and looked in the room and right on the floor were a set of sweat pants and a t-shirt. I picked them up and went into the bathroom that was connected to the room. I took a quick shower and changed. I rummaged the drawers to try to find a can of spray deodorant when I came across a can like mine at home. I quickly put it on and washed my mouth out with water. I went back into the hallway that grew silent from Hannibal turning off the music and instead making my way to the right that lead me into the living area and then into the dinning room.

Hannibal seemed to already be sitting as I made my way in and sat beside him. I grabbed my spoon and dipped it in raising it to my mouth and I moaned at the taste.

"What is this," I asked dipping my spoon in and raising it back to my mouth

"Deer," Hannibal said also taking a bite out of his soup

"Intriguing," I said as I looked at the bouquet of flowers in the middle of the table ", so what if the murderer used the victims to help them plant the others before they finally hung them up."

"Then the bodies must of been cleaned then, Crawford said that there was no traces of dirt on their hands. He also stated that some of the body parts where missing and in place where flowers _Artemisia absinthium _to be more exact," Hannibal said

"That's not a very pretty flower seeming that all the others he picked had some sort of color in them," I said

"_Artemisia absinthium_ though helps ward away pests so it is in fact useful and they obviously had a reason to use it," Hannibal said

"Did you ever just assume that they didn't and that they just did it for fun. A Gardner with an idea to turn people into flowerpots and to decorate the world with the dead." I said

"Turning death into a work of art," Hannibal said looking at me ", such a beautiful way to die"

"Painful to. He must of grown some of those flowers in his victims. It makes me wonder how many people see the same way they do but don't do anything about it. How many cases we could have that are so painfully beautiful." I told him pushing my empty dish away from me looking at the deer head across from me.

"Do you think they will go after Abigail," Hannibal asked me

"They could, since this is aimed at me and all. But to be honest I don't think they will all the bodies hanging up and even the one in the ground they all looked like adults were Abigail is a minor." I said

"That's one thing and they've all been missing for more than a month all over the country. The girl in the ground Caroline Drews she lived in California." Hannibal said

"That's a long way off to be brought here," I said

"Crawford suspects they might of been slaves In the sex trade business," I snorted at Hannibals words ", You obviously think differently."

"I think they wanted them pure" I said as Hannibal grabbed my dish

"I will get us some more," Hannibal said and got up and left

The deer across from me seemed to sprout Cherry Blossoms from where its antlers connected to it's head and it started to move the head jostled around and tried to get off the wall and then it all changed. The deer's skin started to peel off and the flowers start to die. The head soon stopped moving and started to die again. The shape from my dream seemed to burn in my skin. I jolted out of my gaze when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Hannibal asked me as he placed the soup in front of me.

"Yeah maybe I'm just a little tired though," I said to Hannibal

"Nightmares?" Hannibal asked

"Nightmares," I said to him.

"How do you suppose we fix them then," Hannibal said

"We don't my nightmares are unfixable It seems I'm cursed with them forever," I said to him

"Have you ever thought you think to much?" Hannibal asked me

"Yes every know and then when I can't sleep, or I'm terrorized by nightmares. I worry that someday I will see too much and I might do something to make me stop seeing. I'm always on the edge of good and evil," I said

"And why is that you help catch the killers you're not one yourself," Hannibal said

"I dream about killing people, and sometimes I dream about dying," I said to him looking at my now cold soup


	4. Chapter 4

"The security cameras say he was placed here around 3am," Jack Crawford said to Hannibal and I.

"Is there any sign of forced entry," I asked

"No we suspect he had a key came in placed the body then left. He wasn't caught on camera the body just appeared. We can tell the time frame by that clock over there," Jack said pointing to a wall clock

"That could have been tampered with," I told him

"Yes we know this but it's the best we got right now Will just bare with us," one of the police men said to his right

"There is a serial killer on the loose we don't have time to follow some wild goose chase I need to know the exact time this happened," I told them leaving the scene with the envelope that held pictures of the scene.

But the body was still fresh in my mind. It was a white male with a fat round belly and his belly was carved out in a perfect square. All his organs pulled out and in place was a female head placed perfectly between his two ribs. Her short brown hair in loose curls and under the eyelids were empty sockets, the eyes instead sewed into the male's palms as they were held out presenting the eyes towards whoever came up to the figure.

"This one was different," I said to Hannibal

"There's no flowers anywhere near the body," Hannibal said

"Also it was placed in a building, not a park or forest," I said as we walked to the car and I threw Hannibal the keys ", here you can drive"

"So are we going to assume that these are by a different person," Hannibal said looking at me

"No it's still a work of art just a little more horrifying," I said to him

"And it wasn't before," Hannibal said driving off

"It's always hard to see the things I see but before it was a tad easier with the flowers," I told him ", it's always easier with the flowers they just cover up all the bad thoughts,"

"Yet those thoughts always seem to be uncovered," Hannibal said

"It's kind of my job for them to be uncovered it's how I see things," I said

"I would go crazy," Hannibal laughed

I looked away out the car window, letting the laughter dry up in the cold air, where the air that already held the stench of the dead that rose from our clothes joined together. It made me want to gag. The world turned black as my eyelids covered my eyes. I slept on our way home; with my current state of dreaming Hannibal wanted me to stay with him. My dependency was becoming noticeable; Hannibal was always with me morning, noon, and night. He basically never left my side whether it was this case or just to observe me. My dependency was disturbing for my nature. Once so independent I now had someone watching over me like an angel.

I should of saw it coming. Hannibal was anything but an angel; he was a devil with a suit. Dressed nicely to cover his tracks. Nothing like the many before him he new how to cover his tracks, to trick the weak which was everyone he touched.

_This was his design_


End file.
